WARSAW — Toya Hooper created Peer Recovery 365 to aid residents in Duplin County as a mental health services provider with a focus on behavioral and substance use disorder support.
Hooper wanted to use her lived experience to offer peer to peer guidance to get people on the other side of recovery.
She is a Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor (CADC), NC Certified Peer Support Specialist, CCAR Recovery Coach, WRAP Facilitator and NC Peer Support Specialist Course Trainer.
Hooper’s journey with mental health challenges began in childhood but amplified after the passing of her mother in 2009.
“My mother’s death was the trigger that caused everything to unfold, but as a child — feelings of rejection, never feeling good enough and fear of failure held me back from being successful and living a ‘normal’ life for most of my life. After my mom’s death I was in a dark space for many years, even being involuntarily committed at one time,” said Hooper.
Hooper found comfort in over-the-counter sleep aids and withdrew herself to mask the pain she was facing internally from mental illness.
“The most important thing I wish I knew earlier in my journey, is that trauma is the cause of mental health issues and some people also turn into substance use as well. In the black community we grew up thinking that we had to be strong and basically sweep things under the rug. Therapy wasn’t for us, so we held a lot in and never healed. We grew up hearing negative language when describing someone who was different,” she said.
The stigma of mental health and recovery usually holds a demeaning tone in conversation. Unfortunately, the language used in society tends to ostracize people with mental illness to look down on themselves or feel punished for their disease.
“I want people to know that mental illness and addiction are not things that we choose to do,” she said.
“Most importantly I wish that I would have known that my feelings were natural and I was struggling with a disease. A lot of people don’t know that mental illness and substance use disorders are actual diseases and must be treated like cancer or a common cold. My main reason for doing what I do is because I want to educate my community about these diseases so that we can start healing as a whole and make our community a better place.”
Substance abuse education is her passion. Through her experience and research, Hooper has found that mental health is at the crux of substance misuse. Drugs are usually masking trauma and mental pain.
Hooper notes that one of the first steps to take if you or someone you know is struggling is to reach out for help. She decided to provide this for the community since she wishes that a program like this could have existed for herself.
When it came to her work, she knew her mission and purpose. “That is something that God had put in me.”
“My agency offers Peer Support, Outpatient Therapy, IPS Supported Employment, Peer Support Groups, Diagnostic Assessments and Psychiatric Evaluations. We will start providing Outpatient Substance Abuse groups in August, as well as Medication Management and Transition Management Services,” said Hooper.
This is not Hooper’s first time working in peer support recovery to help people facing mental illness and addiction. She has worked for psychiatric hospitals and opened her own practices, investing $20,000 of her own funds in less than two years to fund past programs.
The journey to opening up Peer Recovery 365 involved multiple trials of remodeling the business plan.
“The only way to do it was to start a for profit agency and make the money to open it back up. I was blessed to land a Medicaid contract with Eastpointe and Trillium and the rest is history,” she said.
Once the accreditation and funding was in place, Hooper built her team of peers and specialists to open the doors.
“My agency is different from other agencies because it is Peer-Led and Peer-Run. That simply means that we are professionals who are also in recovery from long-term mental health challenges and/or substance use challenges and have actually walked the walk. I have staff consisting of PSS to Psychiatrists who have become successful and manage to live normal lives with mental health diagnosis. Peer Support is the foundation of my agency and unlike strictly clinical settings — we focus on the solution instead of the problem.”
Her goal is to have the practice continue with walk-in availability where people can come to seek counseling, use gym equipment, sit in on employment workshops, and utilize all resources.
“I want to give people hope and a place to come where they can socialize with people who are going through the same thing they are.”
“A lot of times people just need someone to listen and say that they’ve been there too and understand. Our agency assists with all 8 Dimensions of Wellness. We know that your physical, economical, financial, intellectual, occupational, emotional, spiritual and social wellbeing all play a part in being holistically well and it’s our mission to support those who find it difficult to navigate because of severe and persistent mental illness and/or substance use.”
Creating the program in honor of her mom has been a challenging yet rewarding experience.
“I can’t really describe the feeling — it makes me more determined to help other people…just because you’re going through this now doesn’t mean all your visions and dreams can’t come true.”
Hooper is hosting a Stomp the Stigma event on July 20 with vendors including JSCC, medical centers and NC Works with free lunch so people can learn more about her program.
With a smile, Hooper brings light to the room.
“I’m finally at a happy place.”
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